India’s industrial output rose by 7.5% in January, retail inflation declined to 4.4% in February

Sixteen out of 23 industry groups registered positive growth in January compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

An Indian man works at a cycle spare parts factory in Ludhiana
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Money Sharma/AFP

India’s industrial production rose by 7.5% in January compared to that in January 2017, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed.

As many as 16 of the 23 industry groups registered positive growth during the month when compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

The industrial sector, which registered the highest positive growth, was “manufacture of other transport equipment” at 33.1%, followed by 27.8% in “manufacture of furniture” and 26.6% in “manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers”

The group that showed the greatest negative growth was “manufacture of tobacco products”, which declined by 46.5%.

The industrial output had increased 7.1% in December 2017 compared to the output in December 2016.

Retail inflation eases

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index inflation for February fell to 4.4% for February 2018 compared to the same month in 2017. The Consumer Price Index inflation, which measures the change in retail prices, had fallen to 5.07% in January.

The CPI inflation for rural areas was 4.3% in February while for urban areas it was 4.5%.

Retail food inflation was at 3.2% compared to 4.7% in December 2017. The price of vegetables has risen by 17.5% in February compared to the corresponding period in 2017 while the price of eggs rose 8.5%, and that of milk and related products increased 3.8%.

Prices of pan, tobacco and intoxicants rose by 7.3%.

The groups, which showed a fall in prices, were pulses and products whose rates declined by 17.3%, and spices by 1.0%.

The Reserve Bank of India in its monetary policy review had predicted retail inflation at 5.1% for January-March 2018.